Google Brings Voice Actions To Europe

Just over a year ago Google announced Voice Actions for
Android in the US and now
the company is spreading the love to the UK and beyond.

Voice Actions enables users to perform a number of tasks,
such as sending a text, searching the internet or finding directions, entirely
by voice. It ties in with Google Maps to search for a local business and
dial it for you without any input other than voice. There are 13 actions
available in total, so you can now dictate an email or even leave a note to yourself.

From today, Voice Actions is coming to the UK, France,
Italy, Germany and Spain and as well as being
available in additional countries, it is available in additional languages:
British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

There are three way to use Voice Actions: tap the microphone button on the
Google search box on your home screen; open the Voice Search app; or press down
for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the
“Speak Now” screen. Check out the video below to see it in action.

Among the commands available in Voice Actions are:

- send text to
[contact] [message]

- call
[business]

- call
[contact]

- go to
[website]

- navigate to
[location/business name]

- directions
to [location/business name]

- map of
[location]

Voice Actions is available on phones and tablets running
Android 2.2 and higher. If you don't have Voice Search on your phone yet, you
can download it from the Android Market.